A Second Chance
by Scarlet Shamrock
Summary: Can even the most brutal of men become kind? Based from A Christmas Carol, NO CHARACTERS ARE FROM THE BOOK, ONE SHOT PROJECT FOR SCHOOL. :


You all have most likely heard of Ebenezer Scrooge, have you not? If you have, you will know that he was a terrible man, a man who was in favor of work houses, manual labor, and other various forms of torturous work. However, I have a story to tell you about a worse man. He is rather fond of his job as a police officer and tends to make that known. He cannot even be so kind as to look at a child and smile, but instead spits on the child's face, exclaiming, "Children are a waste of money and food…" and if the child tried to reply, he would strike it to the ground and yell at it for taking back; and he does this on often occasions. I tell you, this man has no heart and if he did, it would be so twisted and black, that no amount of love and mercy could ever make it kind again. Just the thought of him makes my blood boil. However, there is always something that can be done about evil men like him. Oh, wait, pardon my rudeness… I never told you this man's name, his name is Skinner Bancroft. Wait, you wish to know MY name? Ah… I see… Well, that will come in due time. For now, just remember that I am here to help this "Scrooge" find his way to the light.

I walked into the town Skinner Bancroft resided in and watched for him. It was a very cold Christmas Eve in 1848, and the sky threatened to give way with heavy snow. I turned and saw Bancroft once again fighting with a shop owner for being too noisy as he called out to people in the streets. Once he was done with that, he immediately went to a beggar and told him he was disrupting the peace, and that he was worse than the shop owner for being so poor and homeless. As the beggar tried to explain, Bancroft exclaimed, "Are you trying to pick a fight sir? I can have you taken in to the station just for talking back!" The beggar, after hearing this threat, huddled up next to the wall and tried to avoid eye-contact with Bancroft. Bancroft snarled and began to thoroughly kick and beat the old man. Everyone on the streets avoided eye contact whenever they were near.

"There. I think that will teach you to not pick fights with an officer." Bancroft said when he was done torturing the poor man; he then turned and walked away. The old man wiped the blood off of his mouth and watched the officer walk away. He shuddered, and started to stand, not wanting to be attacked once more. As Bancroft turned a corner, I didn't know whether to follow him, or to help the old man. My dilemma was quickly solved as the old beggar suddenly had a coughing fit and staggered around. I rushed up to the old man and caught him just before he fell. He thanked me and went on his way. I watched the old man walk down the street as the snow began to fall, at first lightly, but it seemed it would grow heavier and stronger as the night went on. The lamp lighters were busy lighting the paths, and everything seemed merry and bright. All except for the street Bancroft was on. It was dark, gloomy, and no one dared go onto the same street as him until he had left the immediate vicinity. I watched as several alley cats began to hiss at him whenever he went by, showing their obvious hatred toward him. It seemed as if all animals could tell he was a terrible man that was not to be reckoned with. I began follow Bancroft, not too close, but close enough. When Bancroft stopped, I stopped; when he sped up, I sped up, and so on and so forth. About two blocks away from the police station, Bancroft turned to face me. I stopped out of surprise and waited for what he would say, or do.

"Why are you following me, simpleton?" He demanded

"Um…" I started. "Well, I'm pretty sure I have to." I smiled and waited for his reaction.

"Well stop it." He said as he swung his police baton around.

"Well, you see… I can't." I told him.

"Oh really? And why would that be?"

"You haven't repented of your sins yet. I can't leave until you do that."

"Bah! Sins you say? I have committed no sins." Bancroft replied haughtily. I shook my head and told him,

"Look for me at midnight. I will make sure you understand then." I walked away and disappeared into the snow and fog.

At eleven forty-five that night, Bancroft was in his upstairs bedroom getting ready for bed. He glanced at the clock on the wall and chuckled.

"Bah, why am I waiting for that boy? He's mad I say, mad!" I stood outside his window and watched him. Bancroft locked all seven door locks, got into bed, blew out his candle lighting his room and closed the bed's curtains. I waited outside of the window and watched the clock, wanting to be completely on time. I glanced down at the street below and watched the last minute Christmas shoppers go into their homes, trying not to slip on the ice and snow. I glanced back at Bancroft's clock and saw that it was 11:59. I warmed myself with my hands and counted down the seconds. Impatiently, I went ahead into his room by floating through the window and with a second to midnight, I relit the candle; immediately when the clock struck midnight, the large clock tower outside struck midnight as well. I opened Bancroft's bed curtains and said,

"Get up Bancroft, time to repent of your sins." Skinner Bancroft was snow white with terror.

"How did you get into my house?" I shrugged and took Bancroft's hand. I pulled him out of his bed and began to lead him to the window. "Wait, wait!" He cried. "I have committed no sins! And you still haven't answered me, how did you get in my house?"

"Bancroft, Bancroft, Bancroft… You have no idea how many sins tie you to this Earth." I snapped and a faint outline of chains appeared all around Bancroft. Bancroft suddenly buckled under the weight and groaned.

"What sort of magic is this?"

"These are the sins you have committed in your life Bancroft, this is just scratching the surface of the weight you owe. If all of your sins were with us, they alone would weigh more than two thousand pounds." Bancroft's eyes grew wide with fear.

"What kind of entity are you? Are you a ghost?"

"A ghost? No, I'm more like a guardian angel." I snapped again and the chains disappeared. I walked toward the door with my hand in Bancroft's and we started on our journey of his repentance. We floated through the window and flew up to the sky.

"Where are we going?" Called Bancroft.

"To your past to see what you were." We went through time and space itself until we reached Bancroft's childhood. We stopped at a Christmas Eve where Bancroft was baking dinner with his mother. Little Bancroft smiled and laughed as his mother put flour on his nose. Bancroft smiled at his former self. I could sense Bancroft's heart beginning to soften as he watched the merry making.

"You were so cute back then." I told Bancroft. "I wonder what happened…" I said as I looked away sneakily. Bancroft frowned at my remark and I took him to a little further in the future, to where he was a teen. He was planning proposing to his sweet heart that day, but he was then confronted with the fact that she had run away with his best friend, claiming that she was using Bancroft to get his friend.

"It was that day when I started to hate everything, especially Christmas. It seemed that everything was a waste, the presents, the food, everything. It was all just a time to spend money in my eyes." Bancroft confessed. I smiled and patted him on the back.

"Time to see the present."

"But I already know what that's like. I was just there." Bancroft reminded me.

"Yes, but you need to see the present from another's eyes." I told him; we once more when through time and space to the present, just when there was someone yelling at an old man. Bancroft frowned at the man and said,

"Leave the old man alone!" He cried.

"No one can hear you Bancroft." I informed him

"But someone must do something about that man! The old man can't help it!"

"What if I were to tell you that was you?"

"What?" Bancroft exclaimed. He watched the man yelling and saw that it was him. Skinner Bancroft gasped. "What have I done? The old man did nothing! I was trying to be better than him I guess…" He confessed. We followed the old man home, or, if you could call it a home, because it was not more than a shack at the edge of the graveyard, because it was the only place the family could afford. We look through the window and saw that there were children everywhere, all hungry and crying. Bancroft got a tear in his eye when he saw the man talking to his wife, saying that he got no money that day either. Bancroft's heart was saddened and he began to shake, hating what he had done to the poor man.

"Bancroft…" I said. "It's time to see your future." I said with depression in my voice and a tear in my eye. Time and space was gone through once more, and when we reached the future, we were in the same place, the graveyard.

"I thought we were going to the future." Said Bancroft.

"We are in the future; and this is your future…" I said as I pointed to a grave nearby. Bancroft looked at the grave stone and wiped away the snow. He gasped as he saw whose it was.

"This is impossible! It can't be real!" Bancroft began to shudder and shake violently as he looked toward me. However, I was nowhere to be found. I called out to Bancroft,

"This is your future Bancroft, if you do not repent soon, you will die." For the grave stone said the following: Skinner Bancroft, June 3, 1800-December 25, 1848. Suddenly, the coffin opened as the earth shook. Two arms shot out of the coffin, through the earth, and began to pull Bancroft down. He screamed in fear as the coffin shut him in and the earth swallowed him up.

Skinner Bancroft woke up screaming. The blankets were around him like a mummy's wrappings. He struggled out of them and fell out of his bed and on to the floor. He looked at the clock. It read eight A.M. as he staggered to his feet. He raced to the window and opened it. He looked around and saw the people saying "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Holidays". He laughed at first quietly, and then in grew into an uproarious laugh that echoed throughout the streets. He smiled as he took his night cap off. He ran downstairs and outside still in his pajamas. He smiled and ran through the street, screaming "Merry Christmas" to everyone he met. He went to the town square where he had yelled at the old man. He ran to him and shook his hand.

"You sir. You will dine with me every night, you and your whole family will move into my home and you shall not live in that shack anymore." He hugged the old man and screamed at the top of his lungs, "Merry Christmas to all! And happy Holidays too!" He laughed a laugh that sounded like what you would think Santa would sound like. I stood behind a lamp pole and smiled, knowing he had repented of his sins. I turned and walked away, knowing that he will be one of the jolliest people known to man. What? You're still not satisfied? You wish to know my name? Still? I see… Well, I did say it would come in due time… My name is your name, for you can change someone with just a smile, a friendly gesture, or a "good morning". You don't need to take someone through time and space to change their lives; you just need to be yourself.

The End


End file.
